USA > New Jersey > Gloucester County > Newton in Gloucester County > Sketches of the first emigrant settlers in Newton Township, old Gloucester County, West New Jersey > Part 7
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Josiah Southwick, who married Elizabeth, the youngest daughter by the first marriage, was a resident of Mount Holly, and interested in an iron foundry established at that place. He was a man of considerable estate and left some descendants, who still reside in New Jersey.
The children of Josiah and Elizabeth were Josiah, James, Ruth and Maham.23 This family name never became exten- sive in New Jersey, and now is confined to but few persons.
The marriage settlement, as before named, between Francis Collins and Mary, his second wife, bears date December 21st, 1686,24 about which time this marriage took place at Burlington meeting. She was the widow of John Goslin, a practising physician and merchant of the town of Burlington, and . the daughter of Thomas Budd, one of the largest proprietors and earliest settlers in the colony, who became a prominent man in the religious and political troubles of that day.
The one son by her first marriage is the ancestor of the name in New Jersey. Upon the consummation of this mar-
22 Liber A, 183.
23 Census of Northampton Township, 1709.
24 Liber B2, 572.
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1
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FRANCIS COLLINS.
riage, Francis Collins removed to Northampton township, Burlington county, where he resided during the remainder of his life. Perhaps no more reliable information of this man and his family can be had than from a copy of the census of Northampton township, made in 1709, and pre- served by the Historical Society of New Jersey. Among those there noticed are these :
Francis Collins, aged 74; Mary Collins, aged 44; John Collins, aged 17; Francis Collins, aged 15; Mary Collins, aged 11; Samuel Collins, aged 9.
John died in 1761.25 His wife was Elizabeth, a daughter of Benjamin Moore of Burlington county. They had a numer- ous family, of whom, according to the best data to be obtained, the following are the names and marriages: Sybilla, who mar- ried Samuel Gaskill; Susanna, who married Daniel Garwood in 1737; John, who married Patience ; Francis, who mar- ried Ann Haines (widow), and Elizabeth (he dying, the latter afterwards married Ishmael Kent); Joseph, who married Diana Pritchett; Charity, who married Charles Kain ; Sarah, who married Samuel Bates : Lizzie, who married Samuel Hugg, Robert Friend Price and Daniel Smith; Mary, who married James Budd, and Priscilla, who married Joshua Evans (his second wife). Joshua Evans was a preacher among Friends, and of that society there was no more exemplary or self-denying mem- ber. He adhered strictly to the spirit and letter of his belief, yet was not intrusive or objectionable in so doing. He saw the evils of intemperance, and, by his example and precept, induced many members of the same society to abandon the use of liquor, even at that early day. He resided on part of the estate now owned by Joseph O. Cuthbert, near the centre of old Newton township. A history of his labors as a public Friend, published several years after his decease, shows him to have been an acceptable member of his church, faithful in his duties and a consistent Christian.
It may be seen that the blood of John Collins is distributed among so many collateral lines, that its tracing would be almost impossible.
35 Lib. No. 10, 346.
6
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FIRST EMIGRANT SETTLERS.
Francis settled on land (which his father conveyed to him by deed of gift,) on the north side of Cooper's creek, lately Aaron Moore's.26 The house, a brick one, was burned in 1866. It had some pretension to size and style in its day, but was both small and unsightly, when compared with those of the present time. He sold part of this land to Jacob Horner in 1718. His children were Joshua, who married - -; Job, who married - Haines and Elizabeth Ballinger ; John, who married Ruth Borradale; Priscilla, who married James Mulock, M. D .; Charles, who married Ruth Starkey, and Sarah, who married Ephraim Haines.
Mary, the only daughter by the last wife, married Thomas Kendall, and settled in Burlington county.
Samuel, the youngest child of Francis and Mary Collins, married Abigail Ward in 1721. Their children were Samuel, who married Rosanna Stokes; Mercy, who married Samuel Thomas and Solomon Haines.
Samuel and Rosanna settled at Colestown, where his business was that of a blacksmith. He purchased land of Thomas Cole on the west side of Penisaukin creek, and built a house and resided there during his life. This property was since owned and occupied by George T. Risdon, now deceased.
Their children were Abigail, who married John Lippincott ; Rachel, who married Joseph Champion, and Hannah, who mar- ried Enoch Allen.
The children of Samuel and Mercy Thomas were Samuel, who married Hannah Bishop, and Hannah, who married Clyne. Mercy's child by the last marriage was Elizabeth, who married Isaac Mullen.
Much speculation has arisen in regard to the first Samuel here named, as to his being a son of Francis and Mary Collins. That they had a son of that name is beyond cavil, and his marriage appears in the proper order of time. In 1728, Mary Collins, as executrix of Francis Collins, deceased, conveyed to this person a lot of land at Gloucester and a portion of a share of propriety, part of which share of propriety Samuel conveyed to his son Samuel, the blacksmith. This, in connection with
26 Lib. H, 52. Lib. BB, 104.
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FRANCIS COLLINS.
other like data, seems to identify this person with Francis and Mary Collins in a manner sufficiently conclusive as to such relationship.
John (the son of John) settled in Waterford township, near Glendale. His residence, a large brick house, not now remain- ing, stood upon the farm now owned by John Stafford. He had considerable real estate in that region, and deceased in 1768. His wife survived him, and his child Mary, who was then the wife of Samuel Hugg of Gloucester.27
He gave his land to his daughter during life, and to her children (if any she left), in fee after her death; and, in default of such issue, the same was to pass absolutely to John and Job Collins, sons of his brother Francis.
The daughter Mary died without children " her surviving," and the land became the property of John and Job, who occu- pied it for several years ; but, at this present time, none of it is held in the name or blood of the family.25
In 1720, and but a short time before his death, Francis Collins executed his will (which remains on file in the proper office), expressing his desire in regard to the remainder of his property.29 To his children, as they arrived at their majority, he conveyed portions of his land,-a circumstance which decreased the amount of property that passed by his will. He was probably a man of wealth and active business capacity. Much known through the colony, he commanded the respect of all. He lived to see his descendants increase in a remarkable degree, and occupy much space in the land of his adoption. He took part in all the changes and troubles of the colony, from the beginning until the government was fixed upon a solid basis, and the people contented and prosperous.
He could not but notice its advancement in all material interests, beyond the expectations of the most hopeful, and, in his declining years, observe the many changes that had been wrought since he set his foot upon the soil. Where had been but a few Indian huts, towns and cities were coming into existence; and, where miles of forests once extended, the
27 Lib. No. 13, 297.
28 Gloucester County Records, 1805.
29 Burlington County Files, 1720.
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plantations of the settlers now gave evidence of progress and prosperity. The doctrines of George Fox had spread abroad in the land, and the fruit thereof was a religious, moral, and law-abiding community.
In his visits to his son Joseph at Mountwell, where he first broke the virgin soil to test its productiveness, he could see how rapidly the country was filling up, and that already an embryo village had made its appearance, on the King's road near his place.
A site for Elizabeth Estaugh's meeting house had been selected. John Gill had fenced the land near the same, and a few mechanics had settled hard by, each extending his busi- ness as the folk increased in the neighborhood.
At Gloucester also, where his daughters then lived, a marked change was observable since his first passage up the river to Burlington ; and Philadelphia was already a place of growing importance, the centre of trade for West New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Nearly two hundred years have passed away ; generation after generation has followed since that time, each increasing in numbers, and each augmenting the breadth of cultivated acres, until the primeval forests have disappeared before a teeming population, and the aggressive spirit of the age.
The little companies who settled at Salem, Philadelphia, Burlington and Newton, formed but the centres from which have radiated those energies, that till the soil, fill the work- shops and crowd the cities.
From these have gone out the multitudes that have made the waste places to bloom, and the generous land to yield its increase ; that have changed our rivers into great highways of commerce, and forced the mountains to give up their treasure ; that have founded a government, which has become the pride of its citizens and the admiration of the world.
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WILLIAM COOPER.
W TILLIAM COOPER and his wife Margaret, before their emigration to New Jersey, lived at Coleshill, in the parish of Amersham, Hertfordshire, England. This town lies about twenty-six miles northwest of the city of London, in which he was born in 1632. After he attained his majority, his occupation was that of a blacksmith. They were Friends and members of the Upperside Monthly Meeting, in whose minutes the records of the births of their children may be found, which are as follows :
William was born ninth month, 26th, A. D. 1660; Hannah was born ninth month, 21st, A. D. 1662;
Joseph was born seventh month, 22d, A. D. 1666; James was born third month, Ioth, A. D. 1670; Daniel was born first month, 27th, A. D. 1673.
James probably died young, as no mention of his name appears in any papers relating to the family; the others came over with their parents, and afterwards were the ancestors of the family in these parts.
Like others of the same religious persuasion, William Cooper suffered, both in estate and person, from those who considered that they were doing God's service, in molesting such as chose to differ from them in opinion and practice,-despoiling him of his horses and cattle, and dragging him to prison from the place where he was attending religious service.
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FIRST EMIGRANT SETTLERS.
Samuel Smith, in his history of New Jersey, does not fix the time of the arrival of this person with his family; which was probably not for a year after the first emigrants had come to Burlington. Neither is the name of the vessel given, the place of landing nor the names of those who came with him. Among persons tracing their family from the one continent to the other, this break in their history is always a regret; it is an omission that Samuel Smith might, perhaps, have filled, but, at that period, he did not attach much importance thereto. The time has passed, however, to remedy this defect, except in a few cases, a defect which always leaves a shade of doubt as to iden- tity, and, sometimes, a breach that nearly destroys it. In this particular case no question exists, since the documents of a religious and legal character follow each other so closely and so continuously, that the William Cooper of Coleshill, of 1660, was the William Cooper of Pyne point, in 1682, beyond a doubt.
The first is the certificate of the Monthly Meeting at Coles- hill, which is as follows :
"WHEREAS, William Cooper, of Coleshill, in the parish of Amersham, and the county of Hertford, hath signified unto us that he hath an intention, if the Lord permit, to transport himself with his wife and children unto the plantation of West New Jersey, and hath desired a testimonial from this meeting for the satisfaction of Friends there or elsewhere, unto whom he may be outwardly unknown ;
"We, therefore, whose names are here underwritten, do hereby certify all whom it may concern, that the said William Cooper and Margaret, his wife, having lived in these parts for many years, ever since the first of their convincement, have walked conscienciously and honestly among us, agreeably to the profes- sion and testimony of truth, according to the best of our observation and knowledge of them.
"In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands, this, the fifth day of the twelfth month, 1678."
This fixes his nativity (the previous record showing the names and ages of his children), and also proves that he
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WILLIAM COOPER.
contemplated coming to "the plantation of West New Jersey." He could not have arrived here before the middle of the year following, the twelfth month being February, and not a proper season for ships to start upon long voyages. He could not, therefore, have come with the first adventurers.
The next act of William Cooper, as the records show, was one for the purpose of locating lands in New Jersey; this, doubtless, occurred soon after his arrival here, and bears the date of October 5th, A. D., 16So.1
At that date, he selected fifty acres within the town bounds of Burlington, and had the same surveyed and returned to himself. It is possible that there was some delay in having the bounds defined, and in putting them on record.
There can be but little doubt, however, that on this piece of land he erected his first house and made a home for his family. The troubles between the London and Yorkshire com- missioners in regard to the parts of the territory each were to take, hindered the fixing of the boundaries of individual settlers, and may account for the difference in the known arrival of some and the return of their surveys; yet, in the the case of William Cooper, the fact that the time of his arrival was not exactly known, leaves the taking up of his first location and his coming still an open question.
In a short time it was found that the lines of the fifty acres interfered with those of an adjoining tract, owned by the "widow" Perkins ; this trouble was afterwards settled by John Woolstan, unto whose wife William Cooper conveyed the same in 1695,2 she being his only daughter. Whether he continued his business after his settlement here, and attended to the necessary wants of the inhabitants, which, in his par- ticular line, were important, there is no record, for the worker in iron of that day was skilled in many other branches of mechanism, now in no way connected therewith.
He probably had knowledge of the coming of the settlers at Newton, some perhaps being known to him in the mother country, as they had secured the title to their land but fifteen
I Revel's Book, 7.
2 Lib. B2, 500.
1
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FIRST EMIGRANT SETTLERS.
months before he accomplished the same for his property at Pyne Point, to which place he soon removed from Burlington. The intimacy so soon established between them warrants this conclusion ; so do many other incidents scattered through the history of the times, showing that the intercourse here was but a continuation of that begun before this adventure was under- taken. The survey of three hundred acres at Pyne Point bears the date of June 12th, 1682.3 Within its bounds was a large Indian settlement, and in this William Cooper with his family made his abode. The position was well taken, being one of the most commanding in this section of the country, and a good location for a town. The point of land made by the junction of the creek (afterwards called by his name) with the Delaware river, was selected as the site for his house, this site now being under water by the encroachment of the river upon the shore.
Before William Cooper selected this land, however, William Roydon had made a survey lower down the river, with which the boundaries of William Cooper's tract was found to inter- fere. It is evident that much controversy grew out of this trouble, and that it was not settled during the life of William Cooper. In 1723, William Cooper, the son of Daniel and grandson of William, became the owner of much the larger part of Roydon's survey;4 and, being seized of his father's adjoining real estate at the same time, this difficulty may be said to have ended there.
William Roydon located other tracts of land in New Jersey, and crossed the ocean several times between the arrival of the commissioners at Burlington and his death. In his will he styles himself "citizen and grocer of London," in which city he died during the year named.
If tradition be correct, he was a shrewd business man, and did not always heed the precepts laid down by Friends, when his own interest was involved. Although he speaks in his will of William Cooper as "his trusty friend," yet the trouble about the bounds of their adjoining land did not make the same
3 Revel's Book, 32.
4 Lib. D, 456.
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WILLIAM COOPER.
impression upon the mind of William Cooper. Nearly one hundred years after his death a copy of his will was brought to Philadelphia and recorded in the proper office, being a necessary link to the title to some of his real estate in America. His family, if he had any, did not settle here. He had a brother Robert and a sister, Esther Wright, both of Essex, and a sister Eve, wife of Richard Crews of London.
The Indians were not molested, and, although Arasapha, their king, conveyed to William Cooper all the estate that they had within the bounds of his location, yet no claim was set up by the grantee, and no trouble appears to have taken place between the old and the new inhabitants. The consideration in the deed between the aborigines and the settlers was made up of rum, match-coats, beads, guns, pots, kettles, pans, and such articles of general utility and fancy as satisfied this simple- minded people and always prevented any trouble in the future. This town was opposite a similar Indian settlement on the river called Shackomaxin; between these places a ferry was already established, as to the beginning of which "the memory of man runneth not to the contrary." Here the adventurers under the patronage of William Penn landed, and set up the first Friends' meeting in his colony. In the third month, 1681, a meeting was fixed at the house of Thomas Fairman; and it was thus kept for more than a year, until the Friends united with those in Philadelphia.
It is interesting to observe the religious intercourse that was maintained between the Quakers on each side of the river, an intercourse which lead to many marriages among the younger members, and to some complicity in tracing the genealogies of such.
In 1682, a six-weeks' meeting of business was held alternately between Shackomaxin and Pyne Point, which was maintained for several months; the said meetings being held at the house of Thomas Fairman of the one place and at that of William Cooper of the other. This custom appears to have been established by the yearly meeting held at Salem, for the convenience of Friends; but it did not long continue, for a place of worship was soon built at Philadelphia, and also one at Newton, thus avoiding
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the necessity of using private dwellings. The meeting at Mark Newbie's house, to which William Cooper of the Point resorted, had been kept before he removed from Burlington, showing where the principles of George Fox were first pro- mulgated in this section, and making it a point of interest to such as care to inquire thereinto.
The intercourse of William Cooper with William Penn and the other trustees of Edward Byllynge was frequent, by reason of the large amount of land which he purchased for himself, and also as agent for others, still residents of England or Ireland. He was present at the celebrated treaty of Penn with the Indians, and doubtless gave that great man the advantage of his experience among this strange people. The similarity of the conduct of each toward them, and the continued and lasting amity preserved from the first, show the same element of kindness and fair dealing to have actuated and controlled both. The same principles of justice and of right, so much extolled in the conduct of the Patroon of Pennsylvania, were no less rigidly adhered to by the Proprietors of New Jersey, always accomplishing the same end and deserving the same measure of praise.
In the progress of time, the children of William Cooper took upon themselves the responsibilities of matrimony, and set up their own establishments. Hannah married John Wool- stan in 1681, and before her father removed from Burlington. This was his second marriage, the first wife being a sister of He Thomas Olive, at that time governor of the province.
came in the same ship as the commissioners, and at his house were held the meetings of worship for Friends in the early settlements. He was a worthy citizen, and the ancestor of numerous and respectable descendants. By the first marriage he had a son John, who, in 1683, married Lettice Newbold. In 1698; he (the father), died, disposing of a large landed estate by will.5 His children by Hannah Cooper were Samuel, who died single ; Jonathan, who married Sarah Pearson in 1707; Hannah, who married George Nicholson in 1706; Sarah, who married Edward Borton ; Mary, who married Samuel
5 Burlington County Files.
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WILLIAM COOPER.
Bunting in 1713: Joshua, who married ; Michael ; Elizabeth, who married Daniel Wills in 1714, and Rebecca, who married Francis Smith in 1714.
Jonathan removed to Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he resided in 1715.6 The daughters settled in their native State, and became the maternal ancestors of some of the most respectable families hereabout.
The name of John Woolstan occurs among the Friends in England who suffered persecution for religious opinions. His house was the first erected in Burlington, and in it, the first monthly meeting of Friends was held after their arrival.
Hannah, his widow, married John Surkett of Burlington, as her second husband; he deceased in 1709,7 and she then married John Wills, son of Daniel, one of the commissioners, and father of Daniel, who married her daughter Elizabeth. There was no issue by either of the last marriages.
William Cooper married Mary, a daughter of Edward Bradway of Salem, N. J., in 1682. He died in 1691, leaving a will, in which he names his father, William Cooper, his father-in-law, his wife Mary, and three children, John, Hannah and Mary.8 He probably died at Pyne Point, and perhaps unexpectedly, as Samuel Spicer and Henry Wood, both residents near that place, were witnesses to his will.
The inventory of his personal property discloses that he was a resident of Salem, and a blacksmith.9 His children married as follows: John married Ann Clark ; Hannah married John Mickle, and Mary Benjamin Thackara. As may be seen, William was about twenty years of age at the time of his coming to New Jersey. He was employed by his father in his own calling; this made him a useful man among the adventurers. He died young, and by his will left the care of his children to Edward Bradway and John Kay.
John deceased in 1730, leaving his widow Ann and the following children, James, John, David, Mary, Ann, Sarah, Hannah, and a child unborn.10
6 Lib. A, 38.
7 Lib. No. 1, 337.
8 Lib. A, Salem Wills, 85.
9 Lib. A, Salem Wills, 65.
10 Lib. No. 3, 118.
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Joseph Cooper married Lydia Riggs in 1688. This female was of Irish parentage, but at the time of her marriage was a resident of Philadelphia. It is probable that, in 1695 (in which year the ferry and adjoining land were given to Daniel), William Cooper conveyed, by deed of gift, to Joseph, a tract of land bounded by Cooper's creek, east of his father's residence, where he, Joseph, settled. On February 18th, 1708, William Cooper conveyed two hundred and twelve acres to Joseph. The words of the deed are, " William Cooper, late of Cooper's Point, in Newton, Gloucester county, New Jersey, to Joseph Cooper, of the same place, for his house, land and farm called Cooper's Point, where he lately dwelt." 11
He had previously erected a house and out-buildings on a tract of land which he had located on the north side of Cooper's creek, in Waterford, now Delaware, township. A portion of this house is still standing, it being part of the homestead of Benjamin B. Cooper, deceased, about one mile from Ellisburg toward Camden; and it is now one of the land marks of early times. To this place he removed, but not long to remain, as he died in 1710.
In 1697, Joseph Cooper purchased of Abraham and Joshua Carpenter four hundred and twelve acres of land, in Newton township, bounded by Cooper's creek,-now constituting the most easterly part of the Cope estate.12 This he conveyed to his son Joseph in 1714, just as he had purchased it of the Car- penters. He owned much other real estate. He died in 1731, disposing of his property by will.13 His children were Isaac, who married Hannah Coates; Joseph, who married Mary Hud- son and Hannah Dent; Benjamin, who married Rachel Mickle and Elizabeth Burcham (widow); Lydia, who married John Cox; Hannah, who married Alexander Morgan; Sarah, who married Joshua Raper; and Elizabeth, who married Samuel Mickle.
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